Going ons: PART ONE

I always love phrases and words that are completely made up and awful. There ya go. 

I have forgotten to post our going ons! We have been so busy lately, and it has all been AWESOME! Because Fall and the first part of Winter are the BEST times of the whole year. 

First off, we went to Howell's Farm, one of the very best tree/pumpkin farms I've been to EVER. We went over Sophie's birthday weekend while Steve's family was here. There were all the standard pumpkin farm attractions, but they went above and beyond those and made:

• a HUGE fenced in play space for kids, all made of natural stuff: tire swings, huge slides, hay bales, tractor race track, corn bed for digging (have you ever had corn down your pants? Try to get it out in public. Awkward.) 

• They also had chickens and goats...and if you know me...you know how I feel about goats. THE funniest animal alive. Hooves down. We did have a small incident when Eli toppled over into the fence full of tiny goats begging for food and one fiesty little goat gored Eli's eyebrow and stole his hat to eat for a snack. We got the hat back and saved the baby and only left with life long emotional wounds on Eli's soul. All is well.

• Sophie also had a grand old time chasing chickens while barking like a dog. It went from funny at first to eventually a tad embarrassing, so I put a kabosh on that and we moved on. 

• We shot ears of dried corn out of gun to try and hit two garbage cans hanging between two silos. This might be my favorite part, because I can't think of anything that sounds more hillbilly than this. And it was SO FUN. 

• We climbed on real tractors. We had to tear Eli away when it was time to move on. He has a non-butt as we call it...you know...no butt..the pants won't stay up...needs suspenders, etc. This plus the tractor love cements the fact that Eli was destined to be a farmer. And if not, that's fine too. But right now, it's cute to think of him farming. 

• We went on a wagon ride out through the fields of wild flowers that they use to make their own wreathes and arrangements. I have never seen a field like this and it was amazing. See their website for a photo! 

L to R: Aunt Carmen, Liv, Soph, Aunt Shana, Aylee

• We rode homemade go carts around a track in a corn field. Also very Iowa, but do not judge until you try. I was squealing and pedaling like a crazy cat out there. Because I all but lose my mind when being chased. The kids loved this part needless to say. Is there a time in life when kids DON'T want to drive something? 

• We found our way out of a corn maze. At each stop along the way we chalked one of our fingers a different color. At the end of the maze, there was a board with all the color combos we could have chosen on each finger. You found the one that matched your hand and it gave you a funny act to perform, like doing a dance, or singing a song, or telling a joke. 

We drove back on the wagon through fields of pumpkins and fields of flowers. It was truly a beautiful place and I'm proud to live in such a beautiful state, even if our idea of fun is shooting corn cobs at garbage cans....darn tootin. (We actually don't talk that way here). But we can.